Paint Party Friday - Rose Leaves ACEO

I am showing a Rose Leaves ACEO (2 1/" x 3 1/2") for Paint Party Friday today.  I used alcohol inks and outlined the leaves with a Pentel Sketch pen.  The pen has a paintbrush feel.

And we are at the end of July!

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Descent

For Rain's Thurday Art Date's 'Descent' theme I did an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") of some 'Stairs'. I wonder what everyone else thought of?

A new normal

Denthe posted these on her blog recently, I found them so funny.

My dentist finally called to set up my delayed dental cleaning appointment. It will be towards the end of August. I will be required to remove my mask just for the duration of the appointment and I am asked to bring my own pen to sign a consent form. Apparently it will be very safe, they use a machine to clean the air in the room after each appointment and there is plexi glass everywhere.

Son K went for a routine blood test at the blood lab, his first since covid. He said the technicians and receptionists wore both masks and visors although there was no plexi glass. A man dropped his health card on the ground and freaked out, rushing for the hand sanitizer station. Husband M is now encouraged to go get his own blood test done.

We are trying to cope in our new normal.

Now it seems I am being forced to try the new blogger. It takes a bit of adjustment, sheesh!

A Now Hilarious Story

Daughter L hosted a small party with 3 other friends and her boyfriend recently.  They started out wearing masks and sitting outside on their condo patio.  But as the evening progressed she had to admit they didn't end up keeping much of a distance.  However they were all happy to be together after many months apart.  L said it was great catching up with each other.

One of her friends had been on safari in Africa a couple of years ago and recounted a now hilarious story.  It seems the people on the safari tour bus asked the driver if he could open the large sunroof so they could have a better view of the wild animals.  He complied and before long, a monkey jumped through the sunroof into the bus.  L's friend said she was so scared.  The monkey moved through the bus aisle and curiously touched everyone.  He ended up at the back of the bus and grabbed someone's backpack and jumped out of the bus.  It turned out to be L's friend's travelling companion's bag.  The driver eventually located said monkey high up a tree.  He was rooting through the backpack and luckily found a bag of oranges inside  Happy with that he threw the backpack to the ground and went on his way.  The lady who own the backpack said all her valuables including her passport and money were inside.  It was a great relief to get them back.  The driver said if the monkey had not found the oranges, he would have kept the backpack and run away with it, but he was happier with the oranges.

We have to remember that monkeys are wild animals so it must have been a scary experience.  This monkey was as big as L's 5ft something friend and wider.

My Homemade Pizza

I made this delicious pizza using this recipe. For toppings I used onions, bacon, chicken slices, olives and lots of mozzarella cheese. I will be making this one again.  It occurred to me that I should layer the pizza in the order of sauce, cheese, then toppings, silly me.

Garlic Parmesan Herb Bread

I made this garlic parmesan herb bread using this recipe. It was delicious, really garlicky though. I used a mix of white flour and whole wheat flour.

On decency and lack thereof

This young man was walking his large dog by our house one morning, the dog was wearing a cone on its head. They stopped under our street side tree and the dog pooped large and they walked off. I indicated to my husband M and he ran after them and asked the man to pick up. The man said he didn't have a bag and would come back. M said he would get him one. Then I ran out and saw him down the road and asked him to stop. It looked like he was tying his dog to a post at this point. M gave him the bag and he scooped up. M was still angry and started berating the man but I thanked the guy and told M to calm down, it was not worth it. The man had at least picked up. I am pretty sure that dog pooped in our garden bed one year, by the size of his poop. It is so rude what people do. How is it ok to just let your animal do that and walk off as if nothing happened?

Later that evening my cousin was cycling by and pulled over for a socially distanced chat.  I happened to be on my front lawn.  We hadn't talked since last year so it was great to catch up with him.  He mentioned they had recently tried to make reservations at a restaurant to celebrate his son's birthday but it was booked out.

Another good thing is that husband M finally mailed off his DNA saliva sample.  He was gifted a test by daughter L last Christmas.  His first attempt months back failed as he had trouble getting enough saliva.  This sample should be fine.  My cousin said his cousin had done his and there were a couple of surprise siblings who turned up on his profile.  Apparently that cousin even met with them.  My cousin didn't think there was any family resemblance but there you have it.

Paint PartyFriday - Coneflower ACEO

I am showing a coneflower ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") for Paint Party Friday today.  I outlined the flower with a Pentel sketch pen, it has the feel of using a paintbrush.  It is coloured in with permanent markers and I used some acrylic paints to brighten the centre of the flower.

Rain’s Thursday Art Date - A Face on an Object

Rain’s Thursday Art Date’s theme is ‘A Face on an Object’.  I did a pencil sketch of a coin, an ACEO (2 1/2” x 3 1/2”).  Then I coloured it with watercolour pencils.
It is a rare 1959-D wreath penny worth $50,000, rare because it was produced in error. It is believed to be the only one of its kind.
Apparently these wreath pennies were only made up to 1958. After that they were produced with the Lincoln monument on the reverse side.

Bran Muffins

I have been having trouble finding bran muffins at the grocery store lately so I found a recipe from Allrecipes, got some wheat bran and made my own. Oops I now see I forgot to add the vanilla, I do things like that. It is still pretty good.

Onion Rolls

Natalia recently shared her onion roll recipe and I decided to try making them. They are so delicious! I used half whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour in my version.

Chocolate chickpea flour muffins

I made these chocolate chickpea flour muffins that Natalia posted recently. We really enjoyed them, the chocolate on top really adds to it! I substituted whole wheat flour for the spelt flour.

My fish in batter

I found this recipe and decided to make fish in batter for the first time. It was really delicious and disappeared fast. Generally I dislike deep frying and you get a lot of leftover oil.

COVID funnies

This meme above shows a cow taking the temperature of the worker coming to milk him. It is a sign of the times!

The meme above shows many ways of wearing a mask incorrectly: on your chin, not covering your nose, hanging off one ear, wadded up in your pocket, as a neck warmer, sideways.... Wear a mask, but wear them properly please!

The meme above says 'on average, a panda feeds for approximately 12 hours per day.
This is the same as an adult at home under quarantine, which is why we call it a "Pandemic"

Paint Party Friday - Mountain Scene

Welcome to Paint Party Friday, thanks to Kristin and Eva for always hosting. I did a 'Mountain Scene' for you today (18" x 24") on canvas in good quality Liquitex heavy body acrylic.  I thinned the paint with a matte polymer medium as opposed to using water.  It was a learning experience trying to paint mist and cloud in acrylic.  Youtube is invaluable.  The main thing is to relax and go for it, acrylic is very forgiving.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Two Colours

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date! I did an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") of a skyline at sunset in yellow and various shades of purple.

Dutch Oven Corn Bread

My sister in California shared her dutch oven corn bread recipe with me and I decided to try it. It did not disappoint. Here is the recipe in case you are interested, it is quite easy.

Dry Bowl: whisk 2c cornmeal, 3c flour, 4 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt
Wet Bowl: beat 4 eggs, add 1c melted butter, 3c milk, 2c sugar
Slowly add 1 c of dry mixture to wet bowl, whisk until completely mixed. Add another cup, etc.
pre heat the oven and put the covered dutch oven inside for 30 minutes

pour batter into buttered 10-12" dutch oven
bake with the cover on for one hour 17 minutes at 350F
(you may need to adjust times based on your own oven and preferences, for example I do 300F for an hour)

For the good of the ecosystem

The photo above says: 'I told my suitcases that there will be no vacation this year.  Now I'm dealing with emotional baggage.'

So my friend came by on a hot, sunny day.  She was dropping something off and we chatted outside socially distanced for a short while.  I didn't notice her husband until he got out of the car.  In truth I was surprised to see them together.  They tend to do things separately.  It turns out he had a bout of gout and she had to drive him to the doctor as it is his right leg and he cannot drive himself. 

I was weeding and seem to have missed a spot in a garden bed as I mostly focus on the lawn.  These weeds had been thriving for weeks and I saw insects buzzing around them in the heat.  I decided to leave them be, for the good of the ecosystem.

Gone Overboard

If you have trouble reading the above photo:

First owl says: 'Whom..whom...whom'
2nd owl says: 'of all the owls in this forest, I hook up with an English Teacher'


A family friend recently had a baby at around 37 years old.  The baby is 6 months old now and I heard that she has enrolled him in a preschool that is a lot more expensive than daycare.  The father is maybe 45 years old.  Apparently this school has a structured curriculum and every kid who went there is now bilingual.  They want the baby to warm up to other people and kids, as he is just at home with his parents right now.  There is one teacher per 2 babies, and no parents are allowed inside.  They do activities like  finger painting.  We saw a photo of the baby playing in a pot with dry pasta sticks and some dried beans.  The teachers wear masks with visors, the babies aren't masked.

For one thing, beans can get stuck up kids' noses, there I go being judgemental.  I told the mom she should speak to the teachers but she trusts them and won't interfere.  Another thought -  'is it the best time for preschool, aren't schools generally closed at this time?

The trend seems to be that older, more established parents can afford more and want the best for their babies.  Let's hope they have not gone overboard.  What do  you think?

My mother's mac and cheese recipe

One of my sisters unearthed my mother's old mac and cheese recipe. It inspired me to make the one above. Hers is different in that she topped hers with tomato slices and breadcrumbs. The challenge for me is to always make a good cheese sauce, it takes patience and stirring for many minutes.

A Special Birthday

Husband M celebrated a special birthday on July 1st, Canada Day. Daughter L brought over this delicious cake that was not easy to make. I personally ate two slices, it was so good!

Paint Party Friday - Cut Flowers ACEO

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! I did a 'cut flowers' ACEO, based on an actual arrangement I made by cutting some lavender and coreopsis from my garden.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Fairy Tales

Here is my ACEO piece (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") for Rain's 'Fairy Tales' theme today.  As a child I loved all the fairy tales, they were so magical.  Of course I was partial to happy endings, I still am.

Sunflower Seeds and Iodide Pills

sunflower seeds

iodide pills

I received these freebies in the mail on the same day, always fun to get freebies! There were some packets of sunflower seeds from a Cheerios cereal offer. It is to help the bees thrive. I will definitely try planting them. They are annual flowers and drought tolerant.

Then there were these iodide pills to be taken in the event of a nuclear emergency to ward against thyroid cancer. We had a false alarm in January of this year and I had forgotten we had taken advantage of this government offer of iodide pills.  So they finally arrived.  The pills were offered to those who live within a certain range of the nuclear plant.  We are not that close but close enough I suppose.

Fine Summer Days

1923 Teacher's Contract

You can enlarge the photo to read this 1923 Teacher's Contract. Times have sure changed.

I was walking to the mailbox on a beautiful evening and the lovely, friendly family next door were outside. That would be the mother, father, 3 kids, grandma and grandpa. The mom told me the kids wanted to ride their bikes, that it took them only 3 days to learn to ride. Then she told me they were showing off. The younger daughter said 'Hi Christine, look at me!' I had to exaggerate and say 'Wow, you look amazing!' She was pleased with herself. I didn't linger, as you know we are not supposed to get too close due to covid.

Easy Egg Bread

Daughter L requested Egg Bread, so I found this easy egg bread recipe and it turned out to be a lot of fun believe it or not! You end up rolling these 3 long strands of dough and braiding them!  I never thought I would enjoy making bread at this point in my life, or maybe it is at this point that some start to try doing these things.

Late to the party

I am a new admirer of Audrey Hepburn.  I saw a video depicting her life story and was very impressed with all her accomplishments.  I am late to the party I know!  She had a tough childhood in Europe during the war, then of course became a famous movie actress.  In later life, she supported humanitarian causes. Sadly, she only lived to age 63 passing from cancer.

We tried curbside pickup at McDonald's last week, we liked it.  You order on their app, it senses when you arrive at the restaurant, you pull up to a curbside location that you specify, confirm and pay on the app, then your order is quickly brought out to you by a masked employee.  It had been so long since with had their burgers and fries.

Flowers from my garden

Happy July 4th to the Americans!

Sharing some flowers from my garden with you today, these photos were taken on June 25-26. I cut a few pictured in the vase below.  It seems everything has started blooming.  The neighbour's honeysuckle bush has started flowering and it peeks over from our shared fence.  I guess we can call it a shared honeysuckle. the blossoms smell wonderful.

creeping jenny

columbine

coreopsis with lavender

Paint Party Friday - Peacock Feather

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! I had done this peacock feather over at Instagram for @alexandrasillos as part of a pattern challenge earlier this year. I am showing it here today.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - try a different medium

Rain's Thursday Art Date asked us to 'try a different medium' this week. This (8 1/2" x 11') piece is done entirely in watercolour crayon. The stubby crayons look like pastels. After colouring in the page, I dipped a paintbrush sparingly into a small amount of water and this is the final result.  The tulip is based on a photo I took from above it, peering into the stamen and pistils at the centre.  There were 6 perfectly formed petals, the magic of nature really.

My July 2020 Calendar Page

Welcome to July! Happy Canada Day to all the Canadians. 

I am sharing my July Calendar page with you today. This quote by Sam Keen goes well with this month I think - 'Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability'.